Common Sense is Uncommon
by eostby
Summary: What if Canon Harry had just a bit more common sense than the average wizard? Selected scenes from the books rewritten with a slightly smarter Harry, rated T for safety and unknown future writings
1. Triwizard Task the Third

**A/N: I do not own the Potterverse, J.K. Rowling does.**

**A/N 2: To facilitate the narrative of these stories, as I am basically rewriting bits of canon, I have made note of where these stories would fit in to the books. Italicized text is from the series; the rest is mine.**

_**From Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire**_

_"Off you go, then!" said Bagman brightly to the four patrollers._

_"Good luck. Harry," Hagrid whispered, and the four of them walked away in different directions, to station themselves around the maze._

As Bagman was about to magically magnify his voice to begin the competition, Harry realized he didn't know how the champion who won the Tournament was supposed to exit the maze. Bagman hadn't given them any more information than the first to touch the cup would be declared the winner.

"Mr. Bagman, wait!" Harry exclaimed, surprising the man and the other champions.

"Yes, Harry?" questioned Bagman. "Do you have a last minute query?"

"How does the winner get out of the maze once they have touched the trophy?" asked Harry. "Are we supposed to send up sparks as well?"

The other champions looked thoughtful, so it appeared Harry was not the only person questioning how to escape the hedges.

"Didn't I mention that in the earlier instructions?" asked Bagman with a frown. He was met with four shaking heads. "Oh dear. I had assumed…no matter. The Triwizard Cup has been enchanted as a Portkey, designed to bring the winner back here in front of the crowd so everyone can know as soon as the winner emerges. I'm glad you saved me from that mistake, Harry. Now, is everyone ready?" The champions nodded, and set their game faces. "Excellent!" Bagman raised his wand to his throat and incanted, "Sonorus."

(Scene break: Despite having slightly more common sense in their heads, the champions perform in the maze as they did in canon.)

_**From Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire**_

_"On three, right?" said Harry. "One - two - three -"_

_He and Cedric both grasped a handle. Instantly, Harry felt a jerk somewhere behind his navel. His feet had left the ground. He could not unclench the hand holding the Triwizard Cup; it was pulling him onward in a howl of wind and swirling color, Cedric at his side._

_Harry felt his feet slam into the ground; his injured leg gave way, and he fell forward; his hand let go of the Triwizard Cup at last. He raised his head._

_"Where are we?" he said._

_Cedric shook his head. He got up, pulled Harry to his feet, and they looked around._

_They had left the Hogwarts grounds completely; they had obviously traveled miles -perhaps hundreds of miles - for even the mountains surrounding the castle were gone. They were standing instead in a dark and overgrown graveyard; the black outline of a small church was visible beyond a large yew tree to their right. A hill rose above them to their left. Harry could just make out the outline of a fine old house on the hillside._

A wave of fear ran through Harry, as something about the old house seemed vaguely familiar to him, and he was very sure it wasn't something he had seen at Hogwarts. He looked over at Cedric, who was kneeling by the Triwizard Cup.

"Bagman said we were supposed to return to the front of the crowd, yeah?" asked Cedric bemusedly. "So, is this still part of the task then?"

"I don't think so, Cedric," said Harry, "I have the strangest feeling I've seen this place before, and I know that's not a good thing with my luck. Does the Cup still feel like there's some magic in it?" After a quick wave of his wand over the cup, Cedric nodded.

"All right then, here's what I want you to do," said Harry quickly. "Take a good, long look around this place, then help me over to the Cup. Wherever we are now, Dumbledore will want to know later, and the more perspectives he can get, the better off we all are." At Cedric's slightly quizzical look, Harry managed to say "He's got a Pensieve in his office" before Cedric's face lit up with understanding, and he did as he was told.

As Cedric and Harry were ready to pick the Triwizard Cup back off the ground, Harry spotted a figure walking towards them carrying a bundle. Feeling a sudden pressure building in his forehead, Harry yelled, "Grab the Cup! Now!" As the figure raised a wand, both Harry and Cedric touched a handle and were pulled off by the Portkey.

A tired and pained Harry and Cedric returned to the Hogwarts grounds to find the area in a state of near panic. Only when Ludo Bagman had laid eyes on the pair and announced their arrival did the crowd begin exulting the triumph and the judges and Madam Pomfrey came over to check on the Hogwarts boys.

"Harry, Cedric, what happened?" questioned Professor Dumbledore. "The portkey shouldn't have taken that long to bring you out here. Was there a malfunction?"

Neither boy was coherent enough to respond for a few seconds before Harry's brain reengaged enough to say "Pensieve" and point to his head while looking at Dumbledore. After staring at both Harry and Cedric for a few seconds, Dumbledore and the rest of the judges helped the winners to the Headmaster's office to view the boys' memories of the evening.

After taking everyone through both his and Cedric's memories, and explaining his sense of unease in the graveyard, Harry collapsed into a chair in front of the desk. A very troubled looking Dumbledore thanked Harry and Cedric for their memories and their quick thinking in getting out of the graveyard. Dumbledore conferred with the judges, who decided that pushing the awarding of the Triwizard Cup and the prize money could wait until morning. Bagman and Percy Weasley went to tell the Minister of this development, while Karkaroff and Madame Maxime went to see how their champions were recovering from the maze. Harry and Cedric were escorted by Dumbledore to the Hospital Wing, where Madame Pomfrey was waiting.

"Poppy, could you see to it that these boys each receive a dose of Dreamless Sleep so that they may be rested and ready for tomorrow?" queried Dumbledore politely. She responded in the affirmative, and left to fetch the potion. Harry and Cedric each took a bed, and began to change clothes for bedtime.

"I shall return here one more time tonight, and I ask both of you to wait until I do to take your potions," said Dumbledore softly. "If my hunch is correct, the answer to why the Portkey did not work as I expected will be coming in with me."

Dumbledore spoke briefly with Pomfrey before leaving, so Harry and Cedric sat quietly on their beds, waiting for the Headmaster to return so they could both crash into much-needed sleep. Approximately half an hour after leaving, Dumbledore returned to the Hospital Wing, accompanied by Professor McGonagall, and both professors were levitating unconscious bodies into the wing. One looked like Professor Moody, but without his magical eye or wooden leg. Neither Harry nor Cedric recognized the other, and seeing the condition both boys were in, Dumbledore decided that man's identity could wait until morning, allowing both boys to take the Dreamless Sleep potion and rest peacefully.

The next morning, Harry and Cedric were presented with their winnings during a ceremony in the Great Hall. Harry decided he didn't need the trophy, and Cedric outright refused to take the entire prize, so Harry took the bag of gold back to the Gryffindor table as Cedric brought the Triwizard Cup over to Hufflepuff.

"Very well done, both of you," said Dumbledore proudly. "And it is thanks to your efforts that we were able to determine why the Cup brought you to the incorrect location initially. All year, the person we believed to be Alastor Moody was in fact an impostor taking Polyjuice Potion. The impostor's name is Bartemius Crouch, Junior, and the Ministry believed him to have died at Azkaban Prison many years ago. Therefore, they were very grateful that whatever error allowing him to be released has been corrected, and have awarded both Harry and Cedric Orders of Merlin, Third Class. Another round of applause for them, if you please."

Most of the Great Hall applauded loudly, with the majority Slytherin House being the only exception.

"It seems another year is coming to a close here at Hogwarts," said Dumbledore. "We would like to thank Durmstrang and Beauxbatons for coming to see us this year, and we hope that you will come visit us again should the notion strike you."

The students from both schools began returning to their respective methods home, and as many goodbyes were exchanged, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang departed Hogwarts as spectacularly as they had arrived.


	2. The Final Escape from Privet Drive

**A/N: As always, I do not own the Potterverse. And since I didn't state this on the first chapter, I should probably do so now: All of my tales will assume the book canon, which is why the Burrow is still standing for this story.**

_**From Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows**_

_Moody dropped his sacks at his feet and turned to Harry, "As Dedalus probably told you, we had to abandon Plan A. Pius Thicknesse has gone over, which gives us a big problem. He's made it an imprisonable offense to connect this house to the Floo Network, place a Portkey here, or Apparate in or out. All done in the name of your protection to prevent You-Know-Who getting in at you. Absolutely pointless, seeing as your mother's charm does that already. What he's really done is to stop you from getting out of here safely. "Second problem. You're underage, which means you've still got the Trace on you."_

"_I don't—"_

"_The Trace, the Trace!" said Mad-Eye impatiently. "The charm that detects magical activity around under-seventeens, the way the Ministry finds out about underage magic! If you, or anyone around you, casts a spell to get you out of here, Thicknesse is going to know about it, and so will the Death Eaters. "We can't wait for the Trace to break, because the moment you turn seventeen you'll lose all the protection your mother gave you. In short: Pius Thicknesse thinks he's got you cornered good and proper."_

_Harry could not help but agree with the unknown Thicknesse._

"_So what are we going to do?"_

"_We're going to use the only means of transport left to us, the only ones the Trace can't detect, because we don't need to cast spells to use them: brooms, thestrals, and Hagrid's motorbike."_

_Harry could see flaws in this plan; however, he held his tongue to give Mad-Eye the chance to address them._

"_Now, your mother's charm will only break under two conditions: when you come of age, or"—Moody gestured around the pristine kitchen—"you no longer call this place home. You and your aunt and uncle are going your separate ways tonight, in the full understanding that you're never going to live together again, correct?"_

_Harry nodded._

"_So this time, when you leave, there'll be no going back, and the charm will break the moment you get outside its range. We've choosing to break it early, because the alternative is waiting for You-Know-Who to come and seize you the moment you turn seventeen._

"_The one thing we've got on our side is that You-Know-who doesn't know we're moving you tonight. We've leaked a fake trail to the Ministry: They think you're not leaving until the thirtieth. However, this is You-Know-Who we're dealing with, so we can't just rely on him getting the date wrong; he's bound to have a couple Death Eaters patrolling the skies in this general area, just in case. So we've given a dozen different houses every protection we can throw at them. They all look like they could be the place we're going to hide you, they've all got some connection with the Order: my house, Kingsley's place,_

_Molly auntie Muriel's—you get the idea."_

"_Yeah," said Harry, not entirely truthfully, because he could still spot a gaping hole in the plan._

"_You'll be going to Tonks's parents. Once you're within the boundaries of the protective enchantments we've put on their house you'll be able to use a Portkey to the Burrow. Any questions?"_

"_Er—yes," said Harry. "Maybe they won't know which of the twelve secure houses I'm heading for at first, but won't it be sort of obvious once"—he performed a quick headcount—"fourteen of us fly off towards Tonks's parents'?"_

"_Ah," said Moody. "I forgot to mention the key point. Fourteen of us won't be flying to Tonks's parents. There will be seven Harry Potters moving through the skies tonight, each of them with a companion, each pair heading for a different safe house."_

_From inside his cloak Moody now withdrew a flask of what looked like mud._

_There was no need for him to say another word; Harry understood the rest of the plan immediately._

"_No!" he said loudly, his voice ringing through the kitchen. "No way!"_

"_I told them you'd take it like this," said Hermione with a hint of complacency._

"You really don't see the bigger issue with this plan, do you?" said a dumbfounded Harry. "And no one else spotted it before now either? Not even you, the 'smartest witch of her generation,' Hermione?"

A quick look around suggested no one knew what Harry was talking about.

"If the Trace detects magic happening around here" Harry waved his hand around the house "And the Ministry is able to track anything being cast, then didn't all of you arriving here set that off in the first place? Don't they already know we're trying this, right now?"

A few looks of shock, a couple sheepish grins, a few people casting nervous glances around, and a still-furious Mad-Eye told Harry he should press the advantage while he had it.

"Look, if they know we're here, there's only two ways we should go about this, and neither of them is the current plan, because that's just this side of suicide. We either use whatever magic is necessary to get everyone out of here as quickly and cleanly as possible, since all of you are fully trained, and hope to dodge the Ministry later; a risky proposition at best. Or…"

"Or what, Potter?" growled Moody, his patience nearly gone.

"Or, we do this as close to Muggle as we can. My relatives already left by car, so we can't do anything with that. The last I knew, Mrs. Figg still had a car, and was capable or driving. Is that still true, Remus?" Harry remembered that Dumbledore had sent Sirius to contact 'the old crowd' after the Triwizard debacle, and that Remus was the person in the room most likely to still have contact with those people, as his condition prevented him from doing much else for the Order. A quick nod from his former professor allowed Harry to return to the plan.

"Right, so here's my idea: Tonks, you shift into my Aunt Petunia, and then you and I walk over to Mrs. Figg's, explain the change of plans, and drive out of here with her. Hermione, Kingsley, Remus, as you have the most experience with the Muggle world, you each take a couple people and head off, on foot, a few blocks away from here in different directions. Once you think you're far enough away, Disapparate. Hagrid, did you fly or drive in?"

"I flew part way, but drove in ter Privet, 'Arry," said Hagrid.

"Good," replied Harry, "leave the same way, and take Hedwig if you wouldn't mind." Harry handed his owl off to the half-giant, who seemed quite happy to be trusted with the bird. "That leaves you to watch the house and Apparate away when you feel the wards break, Mad-Eye. Keep Fletcher if you want someone to watch with you. Is that acceptable?"

The gruff old Auror examined Harry closely for a few moments, sighed, and dragged Mundungus out of the kitchen with him.

"All right, everyone," said Harry, glad he hadn't had to fight over his plan, "you know what to do. Let's go. Rendezvous point is at the Burrow."

Tonks gave Remus a quick kiss before coming to Harry's side, morphing into Petunia Dursley as she walked. Remus joined Fred and George in the first Apparation group, Kingsley paired up with Bill and Fleur, leaving Ron, Hermione, and Arthur to form the third group. Harry sent Remus' group out the front door to the left, then Hermione's group out the back door 3 minutes later, Kingsley's group out the front door to the right 5 minutes after that, and after one final check with Moody and Fletcher escorted Tonks over to Mrs. Figg's house a minute later.

Harry knocked on the door, and when Mrs. Figg opened it, Harry said, a little louder than normal in case anyone was watching, "Hello, ma'am. My aunt and I would like to talk to you about helping us with something important. May we come in?" Mrs. Figg, a bit bewildered, stepped aside to allow entry, and closed the door once everyone was inside.

"What was that performance all about, Harry?" asked Mrs. Figg. "I know the Order was supposed to be escorting your relatives out of here, and this wasn't part of the plan."

Tonks shifted her face back for a moment. "Harry here pointed out a few glaring flaws in Mad-Eye's plan, so we're going on Wonder Boy's plan instead. Do you still have a car in drivable condition around here, Arabella?"

"Ah, Miss Tonks, I was wondering why Petunia looked friendlier than I had ever seen her. Yes, my old Anglia is in the garage. I assume I'll be driving for this next part?" asked Mrs. Figg.

A pair of quick nods had the trio heading to the garage as Harry explained where he wanted Mrs. Figg to drive, and how to get there. Once everyone was in, Tonks shifted her face back to Petunia, and Harry laid down in the back of the car under his Invisibility Cloak. Instead of taking the obvious path towards the Burrow, Harry insisted upon a slightly more circuitous route that saw Mrs. Figg driving through Reading, Swindon, and Bristol before finally heading towards the Weasley home in Ottery St. Catchpole.

Nearly 5 hours after beginning their journey, the Anglia pulled up outside the Burrow. Tonks shifted back to her normal form, and Harry peeked out from his cloak as the car came to a stop. Tonks, Harry, and Mrs. Figg entered the Burrow to find that everyone had waited for them. The first person to approach Harry was Mad-Eye, who, after confirming Harry's identity, begrudgingly congratulated the boy on his forward-thinking plan. Once that was out of the way, a small celebration sprang up, mostly congratulating each other for getting Harry out alive, along with everyone else. They knew the conflict with Voldemort and the Death Eaters, though postponed for one night, was far from over.

**A/N 2: As I am mostly concerned with addressing what I feel to be minor logical errors in canon, I felt this was a fine place to end this particular idea. Everyone survives, the so-called Battle of the Seven Potters never takes place, and Mrs. Figg also gets to escape Privet Drive should she desire to stay away. It baffles me how she was just forgotten in the story.**

**A/N 3: And this is actually as far as I had gotten with scenarios crying out to be given some common sense on the part of Harry Potter. If anyone has any specific scenarios from the books they would like me to tackle, just leave a review to this story specifying what you want me to revisit (Which book and chapter the incident occurs in is fine, and if you have any specific way you want me to change it, feel free to leave that as well), and I'll try to get to it as soon as I can. Thanks for reading, reviewing, favorite-ing, and following!**


	3. Contacting Sirius

**A/N: As always, I don't own the Potterverse. In order to make this story flow, some elements of canon were massaged to fit. Umbridge arrives a few seconds later to her office, and Harry has already opened the package containing the mirror. Special thanks to bakazuki26, without whom this story would not have been written.**

_**From Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix**_

_Harry dashed over to the fireplace, seized the pot of Floo powder and threw a pinch into the grate, causing emerald flames to burst into life there. He knelt down quickly, thrust his head into the dancing fire and cried, 'Number twelve, Grimmauld Place!'_

_There was nobody there. He had expected this, yet was not prepared for the molten wave of dread and panic that seemed to burst through his stomach at the sight of the deserted room._

_'Sirius?' he shouted. 'Sirius, are you there?'_

_His voice echoed around the room, but there was no answer except a tiny scuffing sound to the right of the tire._

_'Who's there?' he called, wondering whether it was just a mouse._

_Kreacher the house-elf crept into view. He looked highly delighted about something, though he seemed to have recently sustained a nasty injury to both hands, which were heavily bandaged._

_'It's the Potter boys head in the fire,' Kreacher informed the empty kitchen, stealing furtive, oddly triumphant glances at Harry. 'What has he come for, Kreacher wonders?'_

_'Where's Sirius, Kreacher?' Harry demanded._

_The house-elf gave a wheezy chuckle._

_'Master has gone out, Harry Potter.'_

_'Where's he gone? Where's he gone, Kreacher?'_

_Kreacher merely cackled._

_'I'm warning you!' said Harry, fully aware that his scope for inflicting punishment upon Kreacher was almost non-existent in this position. 'What about Lupin? Mad-Eye? Any of them, are any of them there?'_

_'Nobody here but Kreacher!' said the elf gleefully, and turning away from Harry he began to walk slowly towards the door at the end of the kitchen. 'Kreacher thinks he will have a little chat with his mistress now, yes, he hasn't had a chance in a long time, Kreacher's master has been keeping him away from her - '_

_'Where has Sirius gone?' Harry yelled after the elf. 'Kreacher, has he gone to the Department of Mysteries?'_

_Kreacher stopped in his tracks. Harry could just make out the back of his bald head through the forest of chair legs before him._

_'Master does not tell poor Kreacher where he is going,' said the elf quietly._

_'But you know!' shouted Harry. 'Don't you? You know where he is!'_

_There was a moment's silence, then the elf let out his loudest cackle yet._

_'Master will not come back from the Department of Mysteries!' he said gleefully. 'Kreacher and his mistress are alone again!'_

_And he scurried forwards and disappeared through the door to the hall._

Harry pulled his head out of the fireplace angrily. "Hermione, Kreacher says Sirius is at the Department of Mysteries. We have to go NOW!"

As Hermione was about to respond, the door handle turned. Thinking quickly, Hermione pulled Harry under Umbridge's desk and threw the Invisibility Cloak over both of them. Umbridge strode into the room, looking smug, clearly expecting to catch someone in the act. Her smug grin drooped when a quick scan of the room showed no one.

"Specialis Revelio!" Umbridge shouted. Harry and Hermione looked at each other, afraid to move much less breathe too loudly. After a few moments, Umbridge's formerly smug grin became a furious frown. She turned to address someone standing across from her at the door. "If someone was here, they've long since left. Release the pests, there's nothing I can do to them for now. Do not presume to question me, Mr. Malfoy, or have you forgotten who is in charge here?"

Umbridge stared into the fireplace for a moment, then shook her head and left her office, closing the door firmly behind her. Harry and Hermione crawled out from under the desk slowly, and then Harry remembered what they had been doing before the interruption.

"Hermione, we have to go! Sirius…"

"Is probably not at the Ministry, Harry! Since when have you ever taken Kreacher's opinions at face value? He and Sirius don't get along; of course he'd tell you something to make you panic. Don't you have any other way to contact Sirius?"

Harry was about to protest, but suddenly he spied his own reflection in a mirror on Umbridge's desk. The mirror! That was it!

"Hermione, you're brilliant! We've got to get back to the Tower; Sirius did give me another way to contact him! Let's go!"

On the way back to Gryffindor Tower, Harry explained what he knew about the mirror Sirius had given him. Hermione made him promise her a chance to study the mirror later, so that she could get a better idea of how it worked. Finally arriving in Harry's room, Harry gently lifted the mirror out of his trunk and called for Sirius. A few seconds went by, and then his godfather's face appeared on the mirror. "Harry! I've been wondering when you were going to call me. What's up, pup?"

Harry and Hermione exchanged a brief look before Harry spoke. "Sirius, you wouldn't happen to be at the Department of Mysteries right now, would you?" asked Harry. "I had a dream that you were, and Kreacher confirmed it…"

Sirius looked baffled. "No, I'm at Grimmauld, as always. Wait, you said Kreacher confirmed it? …. Ah, so that's their game. Harry, stay put for a moment. I've got to talk to some other members of the Order, but I promise I will come back and tell you what's going on, OK?" Harry nodded, and Sirius shut off his mirror.

Now that he knew his godfather was safe, Harry was able to relax slightly. A few minutes after talking to Sirius, the mirror reactivated, and this time Sirius had Dumbledore with him. The headmaster asked Harry to recount his dream one more time, just to be sure he had everything correct.

"Thank you, Harry," said the aged wizard. "You have confirmed something very important for me, that Voldemort is aware of the mental connection between you and is trying to use it for nefarious purposes. So that he cannot tempt you further, and so that this exchange of information feels fair to both you and Miss Granger, I will tell you why exactly Voldemort wants you to go to the Department of Mysteries. Miss Granger, you may want to get parchment ready…"

**A/N 2: So yes, Dumbledore tells Harry the prophecy. Am I a bit of a jerk for leaving it here and not writing a battle scene? Perhaps, but why did that battle need to take place, other than for Sirius to die, and Harry to learn the prophecy? Thanks again for reading, reviewing, favorite-ing, and following, and keep submitting ideas. I've already gotten a few good ones, and I intend to try to write scenarios for all of them that I get.**


	4. Triwizard Frustrations

**A/N: As always, I don't own Harry Potter. Text quoted directly from the books is noted, everything else is my words. This chapter breaks from theme a bit, as it is not truly "more common sense", but lauzag suggesting this specific part from the books allowed me to write a scene I've wanted to commit to paper for a while now. So, to those out there who are familiar with WWE programming, Harry's speech may bear vague similarities to CM Punk's pipebomb promo, airing his grievances with the company. Many thanks to lauzag for suggesting this, and I only hope I did justice to what you wanted to see.**

_**From Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire**_

_When Harry woke up on Sunday morning, it took him a moment to remember why he felt so miserable and worried. Then the memory of the previous night rolled over him. He sat up and ripped back the curtains of his own four-poster, intending to talk to Ron, to force Ron to believe him - only to find that Ron's bed was empty; he had obviously gone down to breakfast._

_Harry dressed and went down the spiral staircase into the common room. The moment he appeared, the people who had already finished breakfast broke into applause again. The prospect of going down into the Great Hall and facing the rest of the Gryffindors, all treating him like some sort of hero, was not inviting; it was that, however, or stay here and allow himself to be cornered by the Creevey brothers, who were both beckoning frantically to him to join them. He walked resolutely over to the portrait hole, pushed it open, climbed out of it, and found himself face-to-face with Hermione._

"_Hello," she said, holding up a stack of toast, which she was carrying in a napkin. "I brought you this... Want to go for a walk?"_

"Hermione, you know as well as I do, if I don't show up for breakfast, the rumor mill will get moving even faster. I don't like having to face everyone now, but if I don't, it will only get worse from here," said Harry. "I have to say something, just to get their attention if nothing else."

Hermione studied Harry for a moment, before sighing and nodding her acceptance. The pair headed back to the Great Hall, munching on toast as they walked. Finally, they reached the doors, and Harry motioned for Hermione to wait just outside. She frowned, but Harry's serious expression was enough to convince her that maybe Harry knew what he was doing. Harry took a deep breath, and entered the hall. As people noticed him walking towards the head of the room, they stopped their conversations, and the hall slowly quieted. Harry kept his eyes focused on Dumbledore, knowing that if he looked away he wouldn't be able to complete his plan due to sheer panic. As he reached the headmaster, he was met with a slightly quizzical look from Dumbledore.

"Headmaster, would you be so kind as to cast a Sonorus on me?" asked Harry. "I wish to speak to the entire hall, and I only want to have to say this once, with no misunderstandings for any reason."

Dumbledore continued looking a bit curiously at Harry, but complied with his request. Harry faced the rest of the hall, and gave a speech that would become a part of Hogwarts' legend.

"Before I explain why I needed to speak to you all today, I will ask you to kindly hold all cheers (Harry glanced at the Gryffindor table), boos (a glance at the Ravenclaws), and physical or magical threats against myself (a glance at the Hufflepuffs, then the Slytherins, and finally at Professor Snape, who sneered back at him) until I am finished speaking." Harry paused, looking around at everyone, meeting the eyes of everyone who dared to look back. "So, do I have everybody's attention now? Good."

Harry held up his wand. "This, right here, is my wand. It is the essential tool of any witch or wizard, other than their brains, of course. I ask that you keep both in mind for what I am about to say." Harry paused to glance around again. "I, Harry James Potter, swear on my life and magic that I did not enter myself or ask anyone else to enter myself in the TriWizard Tournament." Many people gasped, others looked at Harry warily, and some simply looked on, waiting to see where this was going. "Lumos." The tip of Harry's wand lit up, affirming his oath.

"I shouldn't need to offer any further proof that I am not a willing participant in this endeavor, and yet I expect that that display was not enough for some of you." Harry's eyes burned a hole through Ron Weasley's forehead, but the redhead did not look up at Harry. "So let me ask those who still doubt: why would I want to enter myself or have someone enter me in this tournament? We've been told the winner receives fame, money, and eternal glory. Anyone other than the distinguished professor sitting behind me want to explain to me why I need more of any of those?" The Hall fell silent, though many looks were exchanged in the intervening quiet.

"Let me let all of you in on a little secret: everything this world celebrates me for came to me because a madman MURDERED MY PARENTS!" Harry's anger finally broke through the relative calm. "He tried to kill me too, and somehow he failed, thus granting me what you all see as a boon: the fame of being 'the Boy-Who-Lived,' the money that represents the total wealth of the Potter family, and the eternal glory of having survived the Killing Curse when none before me have. You know what I see? I see a bunch of fools that don't appreciate the value of your families. Isn't that right, Ronnie boy?" All eyes briefly shifted to the redhead, who tried to glare daggers at Harry, but couldn't meet his eyes directly.

"As for me, I'd rather have my family back than any of these things you all seem to believe I take for granted. So, I want no part of being in this tournament, because I don't want or need any of what it brings. And yet, here I stand, forced to take part because there is no exit or any kind of escape clause from participation. As I am bound to compete, I shall do so. However, there is no requirement on me competing at my highest abilities, so while my pride should dictate that I try my damnedest to win in spite of all odds, I choose not to. I suggest all of you devote your full support to Cedric, because he earned the right to compete for Hogwarts. I know I support him. Enjoy your breakfast."

Harry turned and nodded to the Headmaster, who overcame his shock to cancel the enchantment on Harry. As he walked up the main aisle of the Great Hall, Harry looked around, noting that a few students had looks of shame, Cedric and many of the Hufflepuffs looked both thrilled and confused, most of Slytherin simply looked bored, and almost all of Gryffindor just looked on sadly, with the exception of Ron, who was simply staring at the food in front of him. Though, Harry noted with some surprise, he wasn't eating any of it. Harry met up with Hermione at the doors where he had left her.

"I'd like that walk now, if we still have time," said Harry quietly. Hermione nodded, and the pair walked towards the entrance hall, heading out to the lake.


End file.
